ZULU.1020.eburial
BONA – August 2005
Be prepared!
How to run a burial savings club
Keeping it in the family is your best bet when it comes to protecting yourself against the unexpected debts brought about by sudden death
story by FORCE KHASHANE
HAVING your own family burial savings club can spare you the stress of not knowing who to turn to for financial assistance should a loved one pass away. If well run, such a club can strengthen the ties that exist between family members.
Some factors to bear in mind when starting and running your own savings scheme…
■ Honesty and discipline will bring stability to the organisation. Those who run the club must encourage and accept constructive criticism with the aim of achieving the best for the organisation.
■ Always remember that you are a family and arguments and negativity should never be allowed to surface.
■ Family members with leadership qualities should be your first choice when it comes to who runs the savings club. But they’ll need the support of other members, who must regard themselves as vital contributors and not passengers.
■ Those elected or chosen to hold such responsible sensitive positions such as treasurer, chairman and secretary must be trustworthy and realise the need to keep accurate records available to all members.
The office bearers to run the family organization could be chairperson, the secretary, the treasurer and two additional executive committee members elected annually.
■ All members must participate in discussions to decide the rules and regulations governing the organisation. All members enjoy equal rights and need to endorse what they have created – by each signing the constitution of the club.
■ Premiums must be affordable to all members. A bigger membership could help to lower the premiums.
■ Rules and regulations pertaining to disciplining wayward members must be enforced. Affordable fines against members who fail to give valid reasons for their absence at meetings and/or habitual latecomers could be enough of a deterrent.
Money collected in this way belongs to the organisation. In fact, fines are a good way of raising additional funds.
■ A bank is the best place to keep the finances. Check out various investment portfolios to see what will make your “investment” grow.
■ Monthly meetings for the collection of premiums are vital. All premiums must be paid within seven days and failure to adhere to the stipulations could carry a fine. The home of one of the officer bearers could be chosen as the head office where premiums can be paid and meetings held.
■ Never take it for granted that fraud cannot occur because you’re all family. To prevent mismanagement of funds or stop it at an early stage, members must check the bank statements every month.
■ The club must keep books to record minutes of every meeting held, finances received including fines, money paid out and decisions taken at gatherings.
A proper record of all the members, including of course their home addresses and telephone numbers, must be kept.
■ The scheme covers the principal contributor and his or her spouse and children. Names, addresses and other relevant identification information like identity document numbers for these individuals must also be recorded.
For a higher premium, the organisation could decide to cover three or four family members other than each principal member’s immediate relatives. Money covering each of these people will be lower than the amount covering each principal member. [e]
BONA – August 2005
